Worked 'till Death
by Bestbuds55
Summary: Elmont never planned on meeting anyone to spend his life with, never even thought he'd have the time. Now he can't get her out of his head.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: So, this weekend I was watching Jack and the giant slayers, which lead to me reading every single fanfiction piece I could find on it. So now, that of course means that I have to give a try to writing my own! Hope you like it, because I definitely sat down and wrote this instead of sleeping like I was suppose to! Feel free to leave a review if you have the time, I'll love you forever!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story and the girl character.**

One of Elmont's least favorite parts of being part of the royal guards, or in his case captain of the guards, was that every few days they would have to ride into town to check on how the townspeople were fairing. It wasn't that he didn't like seeing the town or its people; it was more like they always looked so miserable to him. Worked to the bone and starving was also another way to put it.

Today it was raining, and he'd already put off going into the town for way to long, hadn't been at all since he'd retrieved the princess before the whole beanstalk thing. That had been last week, and the only reason no one had asked about it was because of how busy they were with rebuilding. The castle was finally starting to look better, but he feared the state of the nearby town. It no doubt had lots of damage and no money to rebuild itself without kingdom help, and while kingdom would help, they wouldn't remember to until the castle was fully restored.

When he arrived he was very much surprised that the open market was still going, but he assumed it had to because people would starve without it. Houses were smashed builds demolished, and parts of the stalk still crushed part of town, blocking it off from the rest. He tried not to wonder just how many people lost their lives during the fall. Everyone looked tired and unhappy, even more so then usual; no it didn't look like much money was circulating the market today, more than likely no one could afford anything at the moment. He made sure to spread his money as evenly through people as he could; buying apples for him and his horse, fresh bread for a lunch on the road and even a new knife from the blacksmith to replace one he'd lost during the battle. He stopped to observe people pulling large rocks out of the fields and road ways for no doubt ridiculously small wages of money.

Elmont found himself frowning, people should be doing labor in this rain, and they would just catch their death out there. He sat on his horse and looked unimpressed as for about awhile, just watching people of all ages pull rocks before moving on. There were mostly men, who mostly didn't have regular job and appreciated the money or deeply needed the money. There were a few children work together as well; no doubt living at the orphanage and working here together would ensure a tiny bit more food for them to eat. Only a few  
woman though, most not needing to find source of income because it would be her husband's job, or eldest children even.

Still one of the women caught his eye; she had bright red hair and wore a tattered, muddy and very short dress with nothing else for modesty sake. With her dress drench in the rain, there wasn't exactly much left to imagination either, brief he wondered what color that dress had originally been instead of that stained and faded blotched mud color. She was pulling rocks with all the pace of the men and being how short she appeared to be, was working twice as hard at it then most of them. All too soon, the workers declared the day over as the mud began to pile up and making the rocks certainly unmovable. People still groaned about it as small amounts of coin were handed out to people and he watched as the girl took hers smiled and thanked the long nosed fellow in charge before taking her leave.

Elmont wasn't exactly sure what possessed him to follow her, but he did all the same. Not getting to close, he directed his horse to the same direction she was headed. The market was where he'd just come from and he'd usually take a different way back because that way he could check out more places on his "stroll". Still, he didn't mind taking this way if it meant he could watch her for a few moments longer.

She had no idea anyone was following her, and that was fine. (Even though he now slightly worried for her safety if she was this oblivious, a horse had been following her for a good twenty minutes!) At the market she saw her count the coins she had been gave for the day's hard labor and separate them into what looked like half. She didn't look happy as she did so, in fact looked depressed about how little she had compared to how much everything cost. Buying a single apple with one half and pocketing the other, she smiled at the merchant, who just snarled in return. Elmont wanted to be able to correct that merchants rudeness, for even throughout this much misery she smiled at people. A kindness that not many people were able to do.

Continuing on her way, she stopped at an old beggar woman who sat back to a wall so she could be out of the rain. The girl took out a small and much worn looking knife from her boot and with a smile cut her apple in half. When she gave the old woman half, the elder looked about to cry.

Elmont strained himself to be able to hear the red heads voice, and waited. What he could hear was the old woman blessing in an old and scratchy voice; "Bless the child, bless the." Then the girl gave her s sweet and tired smile and patted her on the hand; "Stay strong."

Elmont let himself get caught up in how sweet, kind, and gentle her voice sounded. It was like a new morning breeze, after the sun had been roasting for days. Finding water when one had been walking in sand for days. His heart pounded and by the time he'd settled down, the girl was gone. Only the elder sat still, eating her apple like she hadn't had a thing to eat in days and she probably hadn't. He did something he almost never did at that moment, got off his horse, reached into his pocket satchel and collected a few coins. He got the same blessing the girl had gotten minutes before, and he wondered why she'd influenced him to do this. As captain of the guards he believed that money should be earned, not begged for. Though he did not agree with how little the laboring men would get, he still believed working for the money was right.

Afterward, he returned to the castle as he no longer had purpose for being there that day. Though the thoughts on the mysterious red headed woman remained dancing through his head. If she had so little money that she had to work hard labor and then count everything as delicately as she had, why would she give away half of the only food she bought? She hadn't had enough food for herself and still gave half away with a smile on her face. Elmont wanted to meet this girl again; he wanted to be able to tell how stupid that had been of her, to tell her to look after herself before she worried about others, to make sure she had a proper meal in her stomach. More than anything else, Elmont wanted her to smile that bright and trusting smile at him.

He shook his thoughts out of his head as he headed towards the grand dining room, as Isabelle and Jack had requested that he eat dinner with them tonight. There would be time to think about things later, but for now he was going to be as attentive as the captain of the royal guards should be. Of course, that didn't stop him from promising himself that he'd go and see if he could find her out there again tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Elmont you creep, just what are you doing to this poor girl?! Anyway, I really like how this story is turning out and hope you all are enjoying it just as much. I know that I'm really happy with the way that it is turning out! Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a review if you have the time, I would love you forever.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story itself and the female character.**

Elmont had originally planned to return to the market place the next day, but had been swept off his feet with the many duties that always managed to rule his life. Five days had past for him in the blink of any eye, and now as per order of the king he was to take two days off. It was the first day it wasn't raining in a week though, so things were looking better already. It was always like this, the king ordered he take two days off after working fourteen straight. He was fine with it, for usually he returned to his house on the small amount of land he had inherited from his father in that time. During his working days he had to remain at the castle to be ready for anything and it was always nice to return home once in a while.

Today though, he ventured back out into the town and hoped was happy to see that they were still pulling rocks all over the place. He was worried in the time that he'd been gone they would have finished with everything and then he would have absolutely no clue how to find the mysterious maiden again. This way at least there was a chance he would be able to find her pulling rocks again, for people poor enough to have to do physical labor usual needed to do it often. Most times the situation was kind of a don't work; don't get to eat, kind of deal. He could only hope that red's life wasn't like that.

It wasn't hard to find the red headed girl, though this time he had left his horse in a stable; in hopes he might get to interact with her. She was pulling rocks from the field again, though this time at a much slower pace. She still wore the same horribly stained dress and Elmont briefly wondered if that was because it had been five day, or that was the only piece of clothing she owned. That worried him a lot, because there was no way someone would pull faster because it had been raining out. This left the huge possibility that she had been out pulling all week in the rain and was now sick because of it. Elmont wanted nothing more than to be able to march over to the girl and scowled her for being so foolish. He couldn't though, because technically they had not even met yet.

Thoughts flew out the window as she stopped to cough violently. It sounded painful even from how far away he was. What was worse is that it didn't stop for minutes upon minutes and when the girl pulled her hand away from her mouth he noticed that she grimaced. It didn't take a genius to figure that that she probably just coughed up blood, for it had sounded that bad to begin with. Before he realized he had even been moving, Elmont was steps from the girl, who still hadn't continued her work yet, and was more than likely having great difficulty finding the strength to.

"Are you going to be alright, my dear?" He said and the girl shot her head up to look at him in alarm. Apparently she'd been in her own little world and forgot that people could hear her hacking. In fact, she did not look like she had expected anyone to talk to her afterward, like she thought that no one would care that she nearly couched up her insides in the middle of a field. Elmont's heart clenched in thought of how sad this girl's existence must actually be.

He wanted to say so much more to her, but choose to wait quietly for an answer instead. It would be easier for conversation to happen if he didn't just start fussing about someone he didn't know at all. She most likely would not approve of that or appreciate it at all. After a few moments of her just simply staring, she smiled at him with large sad and tired eyes, and Elmont thought his heart was going to shoot straight out of his chest. "Sorry sir, I did not mean to disturb your day with my coughing. I'll try to be quieter next time."

She sounded so exhausted, like she was running on her last limb and already starting to fall. Up close and facing her, he could now see the dark circles that were under her eye and could not help but wonder when the last time she got a proper night of rest was. More than anything else though, she sounded scared. Like she truly believed that her coughing had upset him and now he was over here to demand that she get a whipping from a superior. He tried not to wonder if that had happened before.

"It did not really disturb me, I was just wondering if you were alright." He tried to smile back at her, but it probably looked more like a grimace. He was really worried about her, and could not find it in himself to be happy at the moment. She looked surprised more then anything and then nervous. She bit down on her lip and her eyes darted back and forth as if to see if anyone else was around to hear. There wasn't anyone, for she had already been falling behind and then when she had been forced to stop, she had been left all together. She looked at the ground losing her smile, and answered with a very quiet, "I'm fine, just have a little bit of a cough."

Elmont found that he wanted to take her by the shoulders and just shake her until she realized that there was no way she was fine with a cough like that. That there was no way that she should be out here working, that it was dangerous for her to be out here all alone, that she needed someone who could take care of her. He didn't though, now wasn't the time for something like that. "You should get a good night's rest with some soup for your throat, I am sure you will be fine after that. More importantly, you should take the rest of the day off; you are going to kill yourself working out here with sickness like that." He wasn't actually sure that would help her cough, but it certainly couldn't help to try. The worst thing was that she just frowned at him as he talked, like she didn't understand what he was telling her.

"Sorry sir, I can't do that. I have to work, please don't worry about me, I do not mean to be a bother." That was the last words she said to him, before turning back to her job and beginning to lug the large rock by a rope once more.

Elmont found himself regretting not wearing his usual armor today, as he had chosen a simple tunic and pants instead today. If he had been wearing his uniform, perhaps she would have taken his words as law and done what he said.

The girl only got about five more feet, before she had to stop and cough again, this time he was close enough to see the blood splatter against her hand as she did so. It had to be more then incredibly painful, and even he winced as she did so. She also swayed as though she was struggling to even stay up, and having difficulty with the straight part. She just looked so tired in his eyes, like a bright light that was flickering and about to go out. He didn't want that beautiful light to go out, had he just met her.

What Elmont did next her wasn't exactly proud of, he moved quickly so that he stood directly behind her and delivered a swift blow to the back of her neck. His training offered that this was painless and a great way to knock out enemies when you had the element of surprise. Still, he had never imaged using this move on a defenseless girl.

Trying not to think to hard about it, he heaved her over his shoulder and then started off towards the stable where his horse was. They hopefully wouldn't ask many questions, and he could be on his well on his way home or perhaps even there by the time she woke up.

God, he was turning out to be quite the interesting character. Captain of the guards, stalker of unarmed, and unguarded woman, and now kidnapper. He really didn't like what this girl was doing to him, but really all he wanted was for her to rest her sickness away, and if he had to force her to do that, then so be it.

He was going to make sure this bright light didn't work itself to death, didn't go out tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Well, I'm back from a March break of doing nothing but working and am about to spend a few days in the hospital for some testing. Not the greatest, but I hope it all works out in the end. Not sure when the next chapter will be out, but it hopefully won't take me too long.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all in this world, except for the OC. I made her all on my own. :D**

As he had hoped, no one had questioned him as he lugged an unconscious girl onto his horse with him. Well, no one had said anything, but they sure had given him quite a few looks. He had ignored them all, but took a few seconds to pause on the fact that these people we clearly worried or not alright with this situation but not saying anything. How many times had this happened before? Is that why they didn't say anything, because they were used to it, but still disgusted with themselves for being too scared to stop it? He hoped that wasn't the case, and gave them a large tip before leaving.

The journey back his land and property didn't take that long, a few short hours and they were there. It was a nice and quiet journey, no conversation and no harsh coughing. She had stayed unconscious the entire time, and he thought that probably be for the best. They were mostly going to fight when she awoke and that was never the best thing to do when share a horse back together. Speaking of that, when he had knocked her out, he hadn't really planned on just how he was going to have to bring her back with him. Now, he sat behind her, she limply laid against him and his arms had to wrapped around her to reach the reigns.

He hoped that when she woke up, she wasn't offended by how close they were. Though, he had quickly decided he liked the feel of her against her, even though her dress left mud on his clothes as well. He noted that he should draw hot water for her when they arrived so that she may bathe. That would probably help her feel better a well. Perhaps tomorrow he should go out to town and purchase her a new dress that one looked like it had had better years. He could help but laugh at the thought of showing up at the tailor, (who would most likely know who he was) and request a dress and then have to guess her small measurements. It would look like he was just getting a gift for a lady, (which he would be) but there would be a rumor of that in mere hours. The captain of the guards, sweet on some mystery girl, the kingdom would just eat that up.

They arrived right about the same time that the girl started to stir. He had just laid her on the bed, before her eyes open violently and she shot up and away from him. She backed herself until her back hit the wall and then shrunk herself down to appear even smaller then she already was. She whimpered as he reached out to calm her and hyperventilated as he took a step closer. He gritted he teeth in frustration, he hadn't expected this as a reaction at all and he wished that this wasn't happening; he wished he knew what was going on inside her head.

She was suppose to get mad at him, they were suppose to argue and he had been going to convince her that she was safe here and this was for the best. Instead, she was clenching her eyes closed and curling her arms around her head to get away from him. He felt sick to his stomach, which was a reaction he now recognized from years working as captain of the guards; one that girls and woman had after being captured and used in unmentionable ways. His heart sunk for her, as she started coughing again, though now to scared to remove her hands from her head, she coughed directly onto her dress and left splotches of blood on it.

Unable to think of anything else to do, he simply got her a mug of water and sat on the bed not that far away from her. She took the water with shaking hands and nodded to him instead of answering. Elmont wanted nothing more than to see that smile as he had hours earlier. "You don't have to be scared of me, dear. I just want you to rest, you were going to kill your out there in that field." He spoke in a quiet tone and simply so he didn't scare her more then he already had.

It didn't really look like she believed him, but she drank the water anyway, handing him  
back the mug when it was empty.

She soon as her hands weren't full anymore; she curled back up around herself, and closed herself off from him as much as she could manage. He sighed, a stood back up off the bed once more. "Look, you have my word that I'm not going to do anything to you; I just want you to get better. Now, you should lay down a bit and I'll get some water for a bath. You'll feel better when clean." With that, he set upon his self appointed task. In the castle there were many maids to do this, but in his house, (which he only ever managed to visit every few weeks) it was just him and the lady which he employed to come by once a week to keep everything in order for him. He usually liked being alone while he was here, but right now he wished that he had a permanent maid. Perhaps the girl would be less uncomfortable if there was another woman around.

No use worry about that now, there was nothing he could really do. He had just gone outside to get some water from the well for the bath, when the door flung open and the girl rushed out, making a run for it. "Shit!" He swore as he ended up dashing after her, and quickly grabbing onto her with an arm around the waist. She struggled against him, but he stood his ground and didn't let her go anywhere. She screamed in frustration and weakly beat on his chest, but he still didn't let her go. Finally, he went limp against his chest with one hand planted on his shirt and just sobbed.

Not knowing what else to do, he lowered them both to the ground, so that she was just sitting in his lap. He was afraid to let her go, afraid she might just make another run for it. He hugged her close and just let her cry, rocking them back a forth for a small bit of comfort. "It'll be alright, no one is going to hurt you here. I'll protect you, you're safe." He whispered continuous sweet things into her ear.

He didn't move them until she had cried herself to an exhaustion induced sleep in his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Yay another chapter of this story! It took awhile but I have it written, and I hope you enjoy it. There isn't many stories posted in this fandom and I really wish there were more, but at the very least I'm enjoying writing this. The format might be a bit messed up on this story because I have ended up using a different program then word to right it. I don't have word on my lap top and found a free program to type in, but gives weird formats.**

Elmont watched the girl, who was now once again asleep in his bed, sleep. He understood why she had tried to run away, but could anything really be as bad as having a harsh sickness and not being able to feed yourself, while working harder than any person should? On top of that it was hard to believe that this girl even had the strength to make a run for it. He'd have to keep a close eye on her from now on; he had a feeling if she ran away on foot she'd be attacked by someone trying to get back to the town. He wasn't about to let that happen, who knows what could happen if some creeper picked her up out there.

It took hours for her to actually wake up again, but he didn't expect anything different. She had managed to exhaust what little energy she had after all and that hadn't been very much. He had prepared a hot soup for her that was mostly broth so it would sooth her throat. He tried not to think about the probable long time it had been since she had had a cooked meal, or a warm meal. She rouse a lot calmer then she had the first time, probably because she had realized that she didn't have the energy to get away, the speed to out run him and the strength to fight him off if needed. She didn't look happy though, he noted. She was looking at him with a clear frown.

He set a bowl of soup on the table for her and gestured for her to take the seat in front of it, which she did with extreme hesitation. She reminded him of a curious deer, one the feared everything but with the promise of food seemed to favor taking more risk. As she sat, he took a seat as well, across the table from her. She didn't take her eyes off him, not even to look at the food. They had several moments of staring contest before Elmont finally spoke up. "I hope you enjoy the soup, I don't cook that much and often don't really care what it tastes like when I do. Should help your throat though."

Her gazed turned away from him and down at the bowl in front of her. She ran her finger down the spoon which sat next to the bowl, before quickly sticking a finger in the bowl and licking it. He cringed at her manors, but decided not to say anything, now was not the time to judge. She looked up at him again, "It's good." then she picked up the bowl and started to simply drink it. She coughed in the middle and had to put it down, but most of the broth was gone anyway and only some chunks of vegetables remained. He continued to watch as she scoped them up with her fingers and savored each and every morsel.

"You know, it's easier with the spoon and you'd get less of it on you." He couldn't help the comment, but regretted it immediately, for she turned back up at him again and gave him the wide scared deer eyes again. She looked down at the spoon again and poked at it. "Don't know how."

Elmont's eyes shot wide open in shock; did she really just say that? How could some be that depraved that they wouldn't no how to use a spoon? Most poor family was forced to use watery soups for supper, but from the sounds of it she hadn't even had that! He wondered just what kind of horrible childhood this girl must have had, what kind of life she had had. No more words were said, as he left her alone to pick at the remains of her food and shreds of her dignity. It hurt to know that there were people in this kingdom that had so little and he wondered how things had ever gotten to that in the first place. As h looked around his house, he thought of just how empty it was for all but 2 days every once in a great while he managed to make it out here. Thoughts of just how many people these days lived in overly cramped places because it took 4 or 5 families sometimes to just be able to afford a small house.

By the time he looked back over at the girl, she was getting up from the table and quietly making steps towards the door. He grunted, and was unpleased that she was still trying to leave, but let it go given the situation. "Are you really planning on leaving? Do you even have anywhere to go, or anyone missing you?"

She turned spun like she was about to fall over, but her tired eyes were lit with a fire. "Look, just because you're a royal guard doesn't mean I want you to be my knight is shining armor and keep me safe from every storm. I might not have much," her speech only faltered as she left out a gasp of breath, which was followed by a harsh cough, "I know exactly who I am and I'm happy with everything I've done. I refuse to sell my freedom to live just a few more weeks. Girls who do that die before they even decide to do that."

There was blood dripping from her nose by the time she was finished, but Elmont decided at this moment she was the most strong and beautiful woman he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Her smiled sweetly the whole time he was helping to the bed to lay down once again, apparently putting him in his place required more energy then she had at the moment. He sat at her bedside as she slightly glared at him through already tired and have closed eyes.

"It's not like that, you just looked so tired and alone, I just wanted you to be somewhere safe and warm. My name is Elmont, and all I want is for you to get better." He soaked in her expression as it turned into a small smile as she began to drift off. "I've never had anyone care before, Elmont; I'm not sure how this is supposed to work."

He pulled the blanket up to her chin and could help leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead, noting that she felt warm and that he should get a bath ready for her when she woke up and that he should go into town to purchase something else for her to wear. That dress was leaving stains on his sheets from just touching it. It was still only suppertime and he could no doubt still find a tailor open, especially if he used his position. As he got up off the bed, he head a faint murmur from the sleeping girl, "It's Annie."


End file.
